


Slip Away Across The Universe

by respoftw



Series: Infinity and Beyond [9]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Episode: s05e06 The Shrine, Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 06:09:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9110002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: Rodney falls victim to 'Second Childhood'.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to randommindtime for the speedy beta. You're fantastic!

**Day 12**

"Don't say it.  Please, John.  Don't, don't do this to me."    
  
John swallowed against the painful lump in his throat.  He hated this, hated hearing Rodney sound so desperate, so small; hated seeing his face crumple in on itself as the realisation that this was all really happening, that this wasn't some horrible dream, completely sunk in.  For a second, (just one fraction of a second) John wished that Rodney would forget just a  _ bit _ more, just enough so that he couldn't remember why John's decision would hurt him so much.  The realisation that that moment was probably only a day or two away took the air out of John's lungs.     
  
"Please," Rodney pleaded.  " _ Don't, _ I won't forget again, I promise.  I'll, I'll set a reminder on my tablet for every ten minutes, I'll remember John, I will.  Don't, please don't say it."   
  
John felt tears prick at the edges of his eyes and he was glad that Teyla had gotten Dorian out of the room before he’d seen this.  This whole thing had traumatised him enough; he didn't need this memory of Rodney - his Dad - broken and begging and - - John had to do this, he had to - -   
  
"I'm sorry, Rodney." John was surprised at how strong his voice sounded but then maybe any voice would sound strong when heard against the weak, trembling pleas that were still spilling from Rodney's mouth.  "You, you're not getting better, you - - he's just a kid, he's  _ your _ kid and he's so damn curious. You need to watch him like a hawk and - -"  John breathed deeply and ripped the band aid off.  "I can't trust you alone with him anymore."   
  
Rodney's knees buckled.  John reached out for him, overbalancing and the two of them crashed to the floor.  He wrapped his arms around Rodney and rocked him gently.  "You can still spend time with him, I wouldn't ever take that away from you, I promise but..."   
  
"But he could get really hurt next time,"  Rodney's voice was flat and dead sounding and John's arms tightened around him.  "I could hurt him.  You're right.  Of course.  I'll move into the infirmary,  I'll - - just," Rodney's eyes were raw with desperation as he looked at John, "please bring him to visit?  At least until I - -"   
  
Until he forgot who Dorian was for good.  

John couldn't voice the words any more than Rodney could, couldn't comprehend a world where Dorian wasn't Rodney's first and last thought of every day.  A part of him wanted to take it all back, to insist that Rodney was OK, that he should stay in their quarters, to hide away and pretend that everything was fine.  He didn't have that luxury anymore.  Not after today.

"Every day," John promised.  He dropped a kiss to the wispy fine hair on the top of Rodney's head and steadfastly refused to think about how few visits that would actually mean.   
  
  
**Day 1**

"Ah, Colonel Sheppard, so sorry to interrupt."  John looked up from the pile of paperwork on his desk to find one of his marines hovering outside his office door.   
  
John smiled, scrambling inwardly for a name to put with the face.  "No problem, Sergeant Gutierrez," he succeeded in remembering the name.  "I'm always looking for an excuse to get out of paperwork.  What can I do for you?"   
  
"Ah, well, I found someone wandering the corridors and I thought I'd escort him here personally."  Dorian was pushed gently into the room, a familiar scowl on his face.  At eight-years-old, Dorian was going through a fiercely independent phase and John knew that the notion that he needed to be escorted anywhere would be prickling at his McKay-sized sense of outrage.     
  
John nodded at Sgt. Gutierrez in thanks and dismissal.  "Good call, Sgt.  I'll take it from here."   
  
Gutierrez looked relieved as he made a hasty getaway and John wondered just how McKay-like Dorian had been acting.  John nodded his head towards the seat across from him.  "Sit."   
  
Dorian did, dragging his heels every inch of the way, kicking at the ground.  "I'm old enough to walk the halls of my own home," he muttered darkly.     
  
"You're old enough to know how dangerous Atlantis can be," John countered.  "There's good reason for our rules, Dor.  You know that."   
  
"I wasn't going anywhere I wasn't supposed to be," Dorian argued.    
  
"You were supposed to be at home.  With your Dad."  John cursed quietly.  Rodney would be going out of his mind by now.  With a twitch of his fingers he switched his radio to their secure family line.   
  
"Rodney?"   
  
"Yes, what?" Rodney sounded distracted and John could just picture him combing the corridors for their errant son.   
  
"Anything you want to tell me?" John asked, giving Rodney to the opportunity to confess that he'd lost Dorian.   
  
"What? What are you - look, I'm in the middle of something, can we do this later?"   
  
John rolled his eyes.  "He's here.  You can stop looking."  He made a funny face at Dorian who smiled despite himself.     
  
"Who's there?"  Rodney snapped.   
  
John sighed.  "Dorian," he said.   
  
_ "Who?" _   
  
The genuine confusion in Rodney's question stopped John cold.  Frozen.

Rodney had been forgetting things lately; little things, inconsequential things.  They had both chalked it up to stress at work, joked about an ageing mind but John was struggling to see the humour now.  A sense of unease had been prickling at John’s mind over the last few days, worrying on those forgetful moments, but he hadn’t let his darkest thoughts in.  Not really.  It had been too easy to laugh it off and...

An uncomfortable silence hung over the line for a few seconds before there was a jarring ‘clang’ on Rodney’s end, some errant tool hit the floor, and then Rodney's shaky voice spoke again, sounding as scared as John felt.   
  
"I can't believe I… John, I - I think I might need to go and see Carson."   
  
John closed his eyes briefly.  It was time to face the reality of the situation.  "Yeah," he cleared his throat.  "We'll meet you there."   
  
****

**Day 16**

"Hey, come on kiddo, your Dad's waiting."  John poked his head into Dorian's room to see him digging frantically through the beautifully carved toy box that Ronon had presented them with on Dorian's third birthday.  The floor was covered in a chaotic mess of Legos, model boats, stuffed toys and sports equipment.   
  
It wasn't the mess that stopped him short though, no matter how out of character that was, but the look on Dorian's face.  John had seen that same look on Rodney's face before, when they were two inches away from defeat and Rodney was an inch away from breaking under the pressure heaped on his shoulders.  It was a look that he had never wanted to see on his son's face.   
  
"Dor?"  John edged quietly into the room.  "What's going on?  What are you looking for?"     
  
"I need to find my jigsaw puzzles."  Dorian didn't even look up, just continued rummaging through the box.  "Have you seen them?"   
  
John's eyes immediately zeroed in on the cardboard boxes stacked neatly beside Dorian's feet.  "They're right beside you," he said gently.  "Are you - -"   
  
"Not those ones," Dorian's breath hitched.  "They… he can't do those ones anymore.  They're too - - I should have older ones in here.  The ones with the pegs on the pieces?  I don't know why they're not there.  I can't find them and I promised him that I would.  I promised, Dad.  I can't - -I can't - -"  Dorian dissolved into hiccuping sobs.   
  
John couldn't take it.  Realising himself that the age 10-12 puzzles were beyond Rodney's mental capacity was heartbreaking enough, but watching the results of Dorian realising it, too, was almost enough to break him apart.  He stepped over the mess on the floor and pulled Dorian into his arms.  Dorian immediately clung back fiercely to him; in a way that he hadn't in years.  It made John’s heart hurt, seeing his fiercely independent son crumple into the small child he really was.  All John wanted to do was to soothe away Dorian's fears and tell him that everything would be all right but he wouldn't do that.  He wouldn't lie to Dorian.  Rodney had made him promise that he would be forthright, no matter the issue, and John wouldn't,  _ couldn't _ , go back on one of the very last promises he'd probably ever make to the man.   
  
"He won't remember that you promised," John whispered.  "I know that you don't want to let him down but it doesn't matter.  All that matters is that you're there for him.  Ok, buddy?"   
  
"I don't...." Dorian started to speak but trailed off and buried his head deeper into John's neck, sobbing louder   
  
_ Please don't, _ John thought,  _ please don't say it _ .  As he didn't want Dorian to say it, John had to know.  Dorian had to be his priority and that meant he didn't have the luxury of burying his head in the sand over this.  "You don't what, buddy?" he asked gently.  "You can tell me anything.  You know that, right?"   
  
John felt more tears soak into the collar of his shirt as Dorian nodded.  He pulled back and held Dorian at arms length, looking into his hazel eyes, the only part of him that wasn't a constant reminder of Rodney.  "You can say it," he said.  "I won't be mad."   
  
Dorian's lower lip trembled slightly as he lifted his chin in a mannerism that was 100% McKay bluster.  "I don't want to see him."  Dorian's eyes filled with tears as he looked up at John.  "Not today.  Please don't make me.  It's… that's not  _ him _ .  It's not  _ Dad _ and I..."   
  
John swallowed around the lump in his throat.  "I know," he soothed, "I know it's hard and I'm not going to force you but you know that it's going to keep getting worse, Dor.  Tomorrow he could be - - I don't want you to miss - -"   
  
Dorian's eyes looked years older than they had any right to.  "I've already said goodbye," he whispered.    
  
John closed his eyes, just for a moment, before nodding.  "OK," he breathed deeply.  "I'm gonna call," he did a quick mental tally of who would be off duty, "Laura and ask her to come watch you.  You know that I have to - I have to be there."   
  
Dorian nodded.  "I know," he said.    
  
John had seen pity in almost every other set of eyes on Atlantis over the past two weeks.     
  
He never thought that he'd see it in Dorian's.

* * *

Carson, Teyla and Ronon were all sitting around Rodney's bed when John arrived. 

  
"Look who's here to see you, Rodney," Carson called out faux cheerfully.  "It's John."   
  
Rodney smiled sunnily at him, beaming with blissful ignorance of what was happening to him.  "John!" His words were slower than they had been last night but still clear, still understandable.  John wasn't sure what he would do when the words finally left Rodney, it seemed so impossible a reality but John knew that it was coming soon.     
  
He forced a smile on to his face.  "Hey pal," he greeted. He leaned over to drop a gentle kiss on Rodney's head.  He gestured for Carson to hand over the spoon that he'd been using to feed Rodney his porridge.  "Want me to help you with that?"   
  
Rodney obligingly held his mouth open for the spoon.  John sometimes envied Rodney's lack of humility these days.  He cajoled and praised Rodney in turn until the bowl was empty.  Rodney smiled vacantly at him when he was done.   
  
"Listen, Rodney," John moved to sit on the bed next to Rodney, putting his arm gently around him.  "I know that Dorian was supposed to come with me today but he," John cleared his throat, "he's not feeling very well and - he told me to tell you that he loves you very much and he'll see you tomorrow, OK?"   
  
John avoided Teyla and Ronon's gaze, ignored Carson's quiet intake of breath and focused instead on Rodney's blue eyes; eyes that should have been filled with hurt and pain from the realization that his own son wasn't here to see him, eyes that didn’t have a clue what John was really talking about.  Rodney bobbed his head a couple of times before laying it on John's shoulder.  "OK."   
  


**Day 13**

John didn’t sleep right without Rodney in the bed.  Six years of a too clingy, overheated mouthbreather lying next to him had conditioned John far too effectively.   With Rodney now admitted to the care of the infirmary, John wasn’t surprised that he’d effectively become an insomniac.  He  _ was _ surprised to find himself blinking awake from his semi-dozing state to hear the sound of voices coming from across the apartment.

John was halfway out the door, golf club in hand when he suddenly recognised the cadence of the voices.

Rodney.  And Dorian.  A flash of anger shot across John’s mind, directed intensely towards the infirmary staff.  They were supposed to be looking after him.  Carson had been trying to persuade John for days that Rodney would be better off in their hands.   _ Lying bastard _ , John thought, uncharitably.  He set the golf club down gently and was about to step out and join the late night chatter when he realised what they were talking about.  John froze.

“You have to promise me that you’ll take care of your Dad,” Rodney’s voice sounded so fragile.  John hated it.  Rodney had never sounded like that until this...this  _ thing _ had taken him over and started to rip its way through everything that Rodney held dear, everything that made him  _ him _ .  

“Why can’t you just get better?” Dorian asked, breaking John’s heart.  “I don’t understand.  You’ve been hurt before.  Dad’s been hurt before.  Uncle Carson always jokes about naming a wing in the infirmary after you both but you always get better.”

Rodney drew in a shaky breath.  John heard rustling sounds and he had seen Rodney settle himself on Dorian’s bed, getting under the covers to sit next to him enough times to know what those sounds meant.  “I wish I could.”  Rodney’s voice was muffled and John knew it was because he was burying his nose into Dor’s blonde hair.   _ It’ll turn brown soon enough _ , Rodney always teased.   _ Let me enjoy it while I can _ .  “I wish that I could promise you that I’ll get better but...you know that I’d never lie to you; I’m not going to start now.”

“What if I want you to?”  Dorian asked quietly.

“What if you wanted me to lie to you?”  Rodney chuckled.  “Well, first I’d ask who you were and what you’d done with the real Dorian,”  Dorian made a small huffing sound, “but then I’d probably say something like ‘I’m not going to get any worse.  I’m going to wake up tomorrow and I won’t have forgotten anything else.  I’ll get better and move back in here with you and your Dad and drive you mad with my over protectiveness and complain about your deplorable taste in music.  I’ll watch you grow up and I’ll probably try and force you to study physics even if you don’t want to. I’ll embarrass you when you introduce us to your first girlfriend, or boyfriend.’”  Rodney broke off and everything was quiet for a few seconds.  “But, none of that’s likely to be true.”

“Dad,” Dorian begged.  John knew how he felt; like the world was ending, like there was no more air in the room, no more light in the world and like his heart had just been ripped from his chest.

“I want all of those things to be true.  You have no idea how much I want that but the truth is that in a few days I won’t even remember who you are.  I won’t remember your Dad, I won’t even remember my own name and a few days after that, I’ll be - -”

“Don’t say it,”  Dorian was crying now, his voice reedy and thin.  “Please don’t say it.  I don’t want you to forget us.”

John slowly lowered himself to the floor, his back leaning against the bedroom wall as he listened to Rodney rock Dorian in his arms, stifled small sobs filtering across the apartment.

“How about we say goodbye now then, huh?  While I remember you?”

John thumped his head against the wall, his eyes brimming with tears and his blood rushing so hard in his veins that it almost drowned out Dorian’s whispered goodbye.  His son was braver than he ever could be - John didn’t know if he had that kind of strength left, if he could ever say goodbye himself.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.  Always remember that.”

John sat on the floor for a very long time, Dorian’s sniffling snobs trailed off eventually before he heard Rodney shifting off the bed, closing the door gently behind him.  He wasn’t surprised when Rodney poked his head in to look at John.  

“You gonna sit there all night?” Rodney asked quietly.  

John shook his head.  “It’s a nice night out,” he answered.  “How about we drink some beer.  On the pier?”

Rodney held his hand out and pulled John up.

 

**Day 1**

John took one look at Carson’s face and felt the bottom fall out of his world.  He was only peripherally aware of Rodney sending Dorian to go and raid Carson’s cabinet for lollipops, too lost in his own fearfulness at what could possibly have caused that look.

The answer turned out to be more terrifying than anything he could have imagined.

 

**Day 3**

“I have heard of this disease before,”  Teyla rested her forehead against Rodney’s for a beat longer than usual and it was that rather than the thickness of her voice that sank any hope John might have felt at her possibly having a solution to their issue.  

It didn’t stop him from asking.

“I am sorry,” she shook her head in answer.  “Perhaps Carson can - -”

The sound of Ronon’s fist punching the wall made all three of them snap their heads up.  John watched Ronon flex his fist, the blood already pooling at the split knuckles.

He wondered if it had made Ronon feel better.  Even for a second.#

 

**Day 10**

“S’pretty,” Rodney hummed happily along with the music, his fingers moving over the blanket that covered his lap as if it were a piano.  

John hadn’t seen him this happy in days.  He exchanged a relieved smile with Dorian; he wasn’t sure either of them could have taken another day of tears.

“I could play it for you,” Dorian offered hopefully.  “Listening to a real piano is always better than a recording.”

Rodney smiled at him, sunny and open and delighted.  “You play?” he asked.

Dorian hesitated.  “You taught me,” he said softly.  “Remember?”

“ _ Dor, _ ”  John cautioned.

“No, it’s...it’s ok,” Rodney settled his hand on John’s.  “I remember,” he lied.  “I’d love to hear you play.”

Dorian grinned widely at them both before he ran off to settle himself at the piano on the other side of the room.  The familiar sounds of Bach filled the living room and John felt Rodney relax against him.  If he closed his eyes it was almost like everything was normal.

“He’s good,” Rodney murmured.  

John hummed in agreement.  

“He’s mine, right?” Rodney asked softly.  “Ours?”

John sucked in a breath and felt another piece of himself break.  “Yeah, Rodney.  He’s ours.”

 

**Day 18**

John had stopped looking at the scans after the first week.  He didn’t need to see those black tendrils extend further and deeper into Rodney’s brain to know that he was losing him.

“How long?”  He cut Carson’s rambling off mid flow.  

To his credit, Carson didn’t sugarcoat it; he never had.  “Four days.  At the most.  And the last two will be bad.  Worse, I mean.  His motor control, his speech, his - -”

“We understand.”  Teyla’s hand gripped John’s shoulder just the right side of painful as she cut Carson off.  “Perhaps it would be kinder to - - “

Ronon pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and stood in front of John, his eyes dark but his voice steady.  “I know a place.”

* * *

“Dad would let me come.”

John froze, his fists clenched.  “Don’t you do that,” he warned Dorian.  “Don’t you dare use him like that.”

Normally John’s hard voice was enough to silence Dorian.  Not in this though.  He was so like Rodney, in so many ways, not least of which was the core of steel that ran through him, even now at eight-years-old.  A core of steel that always showed itself when it really mattered.

“If this works and I’m not there to say goodbye, he’ll hate you,”  Dorian drew himself up to his full height.  “ _ I’ll  _ hate you.”

“Then hate me,” John spat.  “It’s a Wraith controlled planet, Dor.  If this doesn’t work then I could lose you both.  I can’t - - “

“And I can?!” Dorian yelled, tears spilling over his cheeks.  “Please, Dada.   _ Please _ .  I can’t lose you both, either.”

John caved.  

 

**Day 19**

Carson raised his eyes in surprise as Dorian walked onto the puddlejumper and settled on the bench next to Rodney.

“Don’t,” John grumbled, making his way to the pilot seat.  “Just, don’t.”

“Kid deserves to be here,” Ronon shrugged.  He turned to look into the rear compartment.  “You ready, little man?”

Dorian nodded, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.  “Uh huh,” he nodded.  “I just...I don’t like flying.”

John’s breath caught in his throat as Rodney reached out and took Dorian’s hand, squeezing tightly.  He knew that it didn’t mean anything, knew that Rodney was just reacting to the sight of someone in pain but he couldn’t help but wish that it meant something more.

Dorian smiled watery and thin.  “Thanks Dad.”

John tore his eyes away.

“OK,” he barked.  “Woolsey, dial the gate.”

 

**Day 1**

“I’ll find a way to fix this,” John promised.  “We’re not going to let this happen.”

Rodney tore his eyes away from the black shadow on the scan in front of him to look at John.  He knew the man would deny it until his last breath but John Sheppard was an optimist, always had been.  A hero with a self-sacrifice complex that would riva even O’Neill’s.  Yet as scared as Rodney was for himself - and he was terrified,  _ beyond _ terrified - he was worried about John more.  There was nothing John could do, no monster he could fight.  Rodney was the realist in their relationship.  He knew the odds of them beating this were impossible.  Looking at the black shadows under John’s eyes, Rodney wished that he could have given him at least a small amount of hope.  Anything.

“You’re going to have to,” he said softly.  

“No,” John shook his head.  “That’s quitting talk, McKay.  I’m not letting you quit on me, on us.”

“You realise it’ll take a miracle, right?”

John rested his forehead against Rodney’s own.  “Then I’ll find a miracle,” he promised.

 

**Day 19**

“Daddy?”

Rodney fought the disorientation and turned towards the sound of his son.  “Dorian?”

He found himself with an armful of eight-year-old as Dorian launched himself into Rodney, sobs racking his thin body.  Rodney’s arms tightened around him in reflex.

He blinked at his surroundings, confused.  “What the he- heck is going on?” he asked.  “Why are we in a cave?  Is that a waterfall?”

If anything, his questions just made Dorian cry harder.  Rodney scanned his surroundings to see Teyla silently crying in the corner, a huge smile on her face.  Ronon was grinning, his eyes crinkled up, the look of joy on his face taking years off him.  

He didn’t have a clue what was going on until his eyes met John’s.   _ John _ .  John seemed to have aged a decade since Rodney had last seen him.  Since he’d last - - everything came rushing back to him all at once and he fell to his knees, pulling Dorian down with him.  

“You found a miracle,” he breathed out incredulously.  “I can’t believe it, you actually - - “

John crashed to his knees in front of Rodney and Dorian and reached a shaky hand out to cradle Rodney’s cheek.  “No,” he said.  “It’s not a miracle.  I’m so sorry.”

Rodney shook his head.  “It is.  I’m back, I’m  _ me _ .  I...I remember.”

“It’s the shrine,” Ronon said.

“It gives the gift of one last day with your friends and family,” Teyla said sadly.  

Rodney stared openmouthed at them.  “Then what?” he asked, aghast.  “Then I die?!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,”  Carson interrupted, opening his bag and hauling out an array of equipment.  

“Doc?”  John looked as confused as Rodney felt.  “What are you - - ?”

“Look,” Carson waved a portable scanner at Rodney’s head excitedly.  “As soon as Ronon told us about this place I got to thinking that if this did work then there had to be a reason, right?  I think there’s something in this cave, some energy that the wee beastie in Rodney’s head doesnae like.  Something that causes it to retract.”

“Enough for you to operate?”  John asked, suddenly hopeful for the first time in over two weeks.

“Enough for me to try,” Carson agreed.  “I brought some stuff with me on the off chance.  I’m no saying that it’s not risky but…”

“Do it,”  John breathed.  “I don’t care about the risks, just - - “

“Do it,”  Rodney agreed, reaching out to grab John’s hand.  “Here,” he tried to pry Dorian’s hands from around his neck, “take him.”

“Nooooo,” Dorian whined and clung harder to Rodney.  “I just got you back.”

“Hey,”  Rodney ducked his head so he could look into Dorian’s eyes.  “I have never lied to you and I’m not going to start now.  You can let me go and let Carson operate or you can stay where you are.”  John opened his mouth to interrupt and Rodney glared at him until he shut it again.  “If you let me go, Carson is going to do his very best to fix me for good.  It might not work.  If it doesn’t, then I’ll die.  But if it does…”

“You’ll get better and move back in with me and Dad and drive me mad with your over protectiveness and complain about my taste in music?”  Dorian finished quietly.

“All that and more,” Rodney promised.  “But if you don’t let go then…”

Dorian slowly removed himself from Rodney’s arms.  He stood up and transferred himself to John’s side.  He turned to look at Carson.  “You can do it,” he said shakily.  “I’m not gonna say goodbye this time.”

Rodney blinked back tears.  “Not goodbye,” he agreed.  “See ya later, alligator?”

Dorian nodded.  “In a while, crocodile.”

 

**After**

“Daaaaad, tell Dad that I’m old enough to start training with Ronon.”  

The door had barely closed behind him before John found himself in the middle of another Dorian and Rodney disagreement.  He couldn’t stop the grin from stretching wide across his face,

“Don’t you dare bring him into this,” Rodney ranted from his place at the sink.  “Your Dad doesn’t get to make any decisions on your welfare and safety for another month.”

John and Dorian exchanged exasperated glances.  “C’mon, Rodney,” he said, “just some basics.”

“Don’t even try,” Rodney pointed at him with the knife he was using to chop the chives.  “People who take my son into Wraith controlled territory don’t get to have a say.”

Dorian sighed loudly and dramatically.  

“And none of that,” Rodney switched his gaze and his knife to point at Dorian.  “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you said to get your Dad to agree to that particular bit of stupidity.  People who try to manipulate their father like that don’t get to train with Ronon.”

“Regretting your decision to let Carson operate?” John stage-whispered to Dorian.

Dorian made a show of thinking about it, causing Rodney to squawk in outrage, before laughing.  “Nah,” he grinned, “the bad parts are worth it.”

“Everyone’s a comedian,” Rodney smarted, rolling his eyes.  “You know, a brain sucking parasite sounds pretty good right now if it would save me from having to listen to you two do your Statler and Waldorf impression.”

“Too soon, Dad!” Dorian giggled as he threw a used dishtowel at Rodney.  “You’re not supposed to be traumatising me anymore than you already have.  Dr. Heightmeyer said so.”

“You’re the ones who started it,” Rodney complained loudly and threw his hands up in the air.  “Unbelievable.”

“You know,” Dorian sing-songed, “I could promise not to tell Kate about it if you let me start training with Ronon….”

Rodney gaped, his mouth opening and closing in disbelief.   “You are diabolical,” he said after he recovered.  “I’ve never been so proud.”

Dorian perked up.  “Is that a yes?”

“No, it’s not a yes.” Rodney shook his head at John.  “Can you believe this kid?”

“Well,” John grinned, “he does have your DNA.”  

“Oh no, that attitude is ALL you, my friend,” Rodney argued.  “100% pure Sheppard insanity.  Stupid daredevil punks, the both of you.”

John left them both to it as he washed up for dinner, the familiar sounds of bickering and laughter in his ears.  He caught himself grinning in the mirror.  Dorian was right.  

Sometimes the bad parts  _ were _ worth it.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can find me on [Tumblr](http://buffycuddlespigs.tumblr.com)


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